Horses and the economic hardships

CC-by-SA-2.0 Author: Pia Gaarsleu   "Horse looking"

At some point in some people’s lives, they get the itch to get a horse. They ride one, see one or help take care of one and then they get the horse fever. Responsible owners will see everything through. They make sure they have the property, the food, hay, tack, correct bridle and bit and shelter. One thing not too many people think of is “what do I do with my horse when I just financially cannot take care of it anymore?” Well some foster them out, some sell them, and some even take them to the auctions or worse the slaughter house.

People can try to sell their horse to another private owner. They just need to make sure the horse will be properly vetted. They should ask for a veterinary reference to just make sure of this. One could even create a contract that if the new owner ever wanted or needed to sell the horse that the previous owner would be able to be contacted first. Some could even lease their horse with one or two people. This is where the horse owner would charge half or one-third the boarding rate with one to two other people. The horse owner is still responsible for veterinary visits and general maintenance of the horse. The person(s) have designated days to see, groom and ride the horse. This works out well to help share the cost of the horse without actually giving up the horse

One could even donate their horse to a therapeutic center or maybe even to a police horse team. There are numerous organizations looking for horses to be donated for different programs out there. Horse owners would just have to do a little research to find out who and where. Mounted police units may be on the look out to get another horse but do not have the funds to purchase one. Owners could get with them and donate their horse for them to have. In some cases the horse owner can set up a contract that when the horse is to be retired or just does not work out with the program that they get notified first to see if they may want the horse back. There are several horse sanctuaries or rescues that the horse could be donated to as well. Horse sanctuaries are where the horse lives out its life there. Horse rescues will do their best to adopt out the horse to a good suitable home.

If the horse is very sick or old and the horse owner just cannot afford to keep the horse anymore then they should contact their local veterinarian and talk about humane euthanasia and disposal. This process can cost a horse owner about what it would to care for the horse for one month. There are several ways to dispose of the horse afterwards but some veterinary offices will help you with this or you may be able to take care of it yourself. You must get your state guidelines on this subject. Check out state guidelines for horse disposal on HSUS.

The auctions and slaughter houses are in some ways the same. People have to be careful with the auctions. Some slaughter houses will go to the auctions just to get a good meaty horse and take them straight to the slaughter house. Now this cannot happen in the US anymore, due to new laws that were passed, but there are numerous slaughter houses in Mexico and Canada. These people travel to the US auctions and buy up horses to transport them to their country to slaughter them. This is horrible. If a horse owner finds themselves in a financial hardship they need to explore other ways of letting their pet go than to the auctions.

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